| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"johac" |
| Date: |
19 Nov 2005 09:17:30 AM |
| Object: |
Quackery, religion and politics invade medical science |
Anybody know a good witch doctor?
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Quackery, religion and politics invade medical science
By Alex Gerber
November 18, 2005
More than two millennia ago, Hippocrates, the Greek "father of
medicine," rejected the view that illness was due to superstition and
disfavor of the Gods and introduced the belief that illness had a
physical and rational explanation. To this day, physicians accept some
of his concepts among the most important, primum non nocere: first do
no harm.
Medical progress slowed following Hippocrates' historic contributions
but advanced rapidly with the Renaissance. The most extraordinary
changes in medical science and technology, however, have taken place in
the last 50 years, so that fully 50 percent of the knowledge needed to
practice modern medicine did not even exist 15 years ago.
But not all of the recent changes have been for the better. Along with
the brilliant medical advances, a great American hoax, so-called
Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), has invaded medical
science. Medicine is further threatened by the infiltration of religion
and politics.
Conventional medicine is grounded in the diagnosis and treatment of
disease by the scientific method of rational hypothesis, empirical
observation, logical analysis and rigid evaluation of the results. To
stay attuned to modern medical practice, upon completion of their
medical education and training, physicians must continuously follow the
medical literature and attend scientific meetings.
Unlike mainline evidence-based medicine, CAM practitioners promote their
medications and procedures with untested theories, speculative
assertions, anecdotal reports, patient testimonials and the placebo
effect in short, quackery.
There is no alternative medicine. Medical remedies are either effective
or not effective. If proved effective, they are incorporated into the
orthodox medical armamentarium. If ineffective, they have no place in
the healing arts -conventional or alternative. Thus, quinine from
cinchoa bark for treating malaria, digitalis from fox glove for treating
heart disease, and opium from poppy to relieve pain, are conventional
medications, although originally recognized as therapeutic through
serendipitous observation.
CAM practitioners have embraced homeopathy, naturopathy, herbal
supplements (which do not require Federal Drug Administration approval)
and other forms of healing that have been discredited by the scientific
medical community.
CAM practitioners, moreover, are not averse to tackling complex medical
problems whose treatments have defied conventional medical specialists
despite years of intensive research at prestigious medical centers.
According to CAM, ulcerative colitis responds to a blend of aloe vera,
activated charcoal, powdered psillium and acidophilous. Headaches
supposedly are relieved by acupuncture, a 5,000-year-old Chinese remedy
based on never-identified energy lines under the skin, which when
blocked cause disease. Cure follows unblocking the non-existant energy
flow by inserting needles at specific points on the body handed down by
the ancient Chinese. Some CAM practitioners claim that finger pressure
works just as well as needles.
Do these remedies work? How are we to know? Followup controlled studies
with evidence of their efficacy have yet to appear in a medical journal.
In general, these pseudo-scientific remedies are harmless, although
occasional deaths have been reported from puncturing the lung with
acupuncture needles and from herbal supplements that proved to be toxic.
Another CAM contribution is Ayurvedic medicine of ancient India.
Ayurvedic treatments are primarily dietary and vary according to three
body types: Vata, Pitta and Kapha, which govern all movements of body
and mind. Medical problems are cured by adjusting changes in the diet
involving sweet and sour foods, nuts and tomatoes. A Kapha, for example,
may eat turkey but avoid rabbit or pheasant and eat honey but only if
unheated. No scientific studies are available to indicate that people
become healthier or live longer from adhering to Ayurvedic medicine.
Bowing to congressional pressure, a CAM office was established in the
National Institutes of Health in 1992. The Initial budget of $5 million
was expanded yearly to reach $123 million in 2005. In its 13 years of
existence and expenditure of more than $400 million, not a single
complementary or alternative medication or procedure has been produced
by this office, now called the National Center for Complementary and
Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), that prevents or cures any disease.
Looking over the CAM drug scene, one is reminded of physician-poet
Oliver Wendell Holmes' assessment of the drugs of his day: "If all the
drugs in the pharmacopeia were sent to the bottom of the sea, it would
be all the better for mankind and all the worse for the fishes."
The latest threats to conventional medicine have been the inroads of
religion and politics. More than any other president in recent history,
George Bush reminds us of the depth of his faith. This narrowing of the
relationship between church and state is in sharp contrast to the
religious philosophy of John F. Kennedy: "I believe in an America where
the separation of church and state is complete. I believe in a president
whose views on religion are his own private affair not as a condition
for holding office."
Bush's religious bent has not been without its political rewards.
Touting their superior "moral values," a core base of Christian
evangelicals believes that they are responsible for Bush's re-election
and insist that religion should play an important role in medical
politics. High on the agenda of the religious right is the prohibition
of over-the-counter sale of the morning after pill which would increase
the abortion rate; the reversal of Roe v. Wade limiting a woman's free
choice; and objection to fetal embryonic stem cell research witholding
promise of treatment for diabetes, Parkinson's disease and spinal cord
injuries.
Indicative of the invasion of medicine by religion and politics was the
recent Terri Schiavo fiasco. Led by Tom DeLay, members of Congress
pushed through legislation enlisting the courts in preventing the
"pulling of the tube." These efforts went nowhere, but not before one of
Harvard's medical graduates, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of
Tennessee, concluded from a video observation that Schiavo did not
suffer from a persistent vegetative state. The autopsy report finally
ended the congressional meddling in Schiavo's diagnosis.
Medical science looks upon the return of the snake-oil salesman and the
penetration of religion and politics into medical practice as temporary
bumps in the road of medical progress. The profession can take solace in
the arguable proposition that modern medicine has done more to extricate
mankind from suffering and debasement than all the political idealogues
and religious persuasions combined. For as Thomas Jefferson aptly
stated, "Without health there is no happiness."
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http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20051118/news_lz1e18gerber.html
--
John Hachmann aa #1782
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities"
-Voltaire
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